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July 28, 1931. H. E. HERSHEY SUPERVISORY SYSTEM Filed Aug. 19, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 HIT-H.-

H l'n-refril cm 51TH 51" y 1931- H. E. HERSHEY 1,816,186

SUPERVISORY SYSTEM Filed Aug. 19, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 RECORD/MS TAPE 1 f Inusniur Harry E. Hershey Patented July 28, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY E. HERSHEY, OF OAK. PARK, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TU AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC INC., 01 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE SUPERVISORY SYSTEM Application. filed Au ust 19, 1927., Serial No. 514,060.

This invention relates in general to supervisory systems and more particularly to such systems in which the operation of any one of a plurality of switchingdevices may be instantly recorded for supervisory purposes.

My invention has for its principal object the furnishing of means for connecting and controlling a printing recorder to instantly and accurately register the various operations of the switching devices, characterizing each operation.

Manufacturing concerns or other concerns which consume large amounts of commercial current are very desirous of having some means for registering any failure or reduction in the supply of the commercial current so that they may be able to obtain rebates from the supplier.

It is also 'the desire of the suppliers of commercial current to have means whereby they may secure a record of the operations of the switching devices which control the output of their product to the consumers.

My invention will enable concerns of both of these types to secure efiiciently and cheaply the desired records in permanent record form.

In accordance with the objects of my invention, I rovide a means whereby a printing recor er is electrically connected to switching devices, and is automatically controlled thereby so that a printed record may be had of the operations of these switching devices.

Other objects of my invention not specifically mentioned will be apparent from the description and claims to follow and from reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings I have shown only details suiiicient to enable a clear understand: in? of my invention.

ig. 1 is a diagrammatic circuit representation of the system using a printing re corder.

At the left side of Figure l I have represented by a rectangle, the printing recorder which is diagrammatically represented in Fig. 3. This maybeany printing recorder which is arranged to print the desired information, but in this case, I have used a printing recorder of the type shown and described in the application of T. C. iRifege, Serial No. 214,068, filed August 19,

This printing recorder consists of a standard spring driven clock movement which is arranged to operate indicating discs which will record the time and date. In addition to this, the recorder has another indicating disc with numerals on its periphery which will indicate-the number of the switching device of which a record is being made. Not only does the recorder have these indicating discs, but it also has one other which is in the form of an indicating plate which, when operated, will characterize the various operations of the switching devices. These last two features work independently of the rest of the recorder mechanism, being operated by electromagnets which are controlled by the equipment with which the printing recorder is associated. Thus the complete record of this recorder will show the character of the operation, the number of the switching device beingisupervised and the time and date of the operation.

At the right side of Fig. 1 I have shown relays R1 and is assumed are two of a plurality of switching devices controlled by the flow of current in the commercial power leads, L1L2 and Lit-L4. Relays R1 and R5 are bridged across the conductors of the power lines represented by L1L2 and L3-IA, and they are in their operative position when current is flowing through these lines. A failure of current, or a reduction of cure rent below a certain value, will allow these relays to fall back to their inoperative positions. Thus it will be seen that by observing the operations of these relays, the status of the current flow 'in the associated power lines may be readily determined at any time. Relays R1 and R5 may be replaced by circuit breakers of standard types or any other mechanism which will act similarly under similar conditions.

The switch represented by wipers 26, 27, 28, and 29 in the center portion of the draw- R5 which, in this instance, it s ings is a forward hunting switch of the homing type, always returning to its home position after being released from service.

The purpose of the printing recorder is to make a permanent record of the energizations and deenergizations of the relays in the group represented by relays R1 and R5.

Fig. 2 shows a sample of the printed record which will be explained more fully hereinafter. I

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic representation of the printing recorder PR of Fig. 1, the construetion of which is shown and described in the aforementioned application of T. C. Riebe.

Before proceeding with the detailed description of the system shown in Fig. 1, it is thought advisable to describe the construction of the recorder PR shown in Fig. 3. The recorder comprises the clock mechanism M which controls the movement of wheels 62, 63 and 64 which are mounted on shaft 67, and the wheels and 66 which are mounted on the shaft 57.

Since the operation by a clock mechanism, of indicating wheels carrying time and date characters thereon is well known, it is thought unnecessary to show the actual means, in the diagrammatic drawings, by which the indicating wheels 62 to 66, inclusive, ar stepped, it being thought sufficient to diagrammatically represent such means as a clock..

Wheel 58, to which, is attached the ratchet wheel 59, is rotatably mounted v on shaft 57 and is advanced step by step through the action of armature 60 andpawl 61 and ratchet wheel 59. Motor magnet 31, when enerized, attracts the armature 60, thus moving pawl 61 into engagement with the next tooth below that with which it is in engagement in the drawings. When armature 60 is released upon the deenergization of magnet 31, the armature and pawl act to step the wheel 58 in a clockwise direction. The indicating plate 55 is also rotatably mounted on shaft 57 and its movement is controlled by shift magnet 33 through the action of the armature 36 and connecting rod 56. Actuation of armature 36 upon the energization of magnet 33 rotates the indicating plate 55 about shaft 57 in a counter-clockwise direction to place the raised X on its periphery in the printing position. The extent of movement of 55 is controlled by a pin and. slot arrangement. The solenoid printing magnet 32 operates its plunger to press the recording tape against the indicating wheels to print a record like that shown in Fig. 2.

Referring now to Fig. 1 in detail, it will be assumed that there is no current flowing through the power lines Ill-L2 and L3-L4. Under these circumstances, relays R1 and R5 will be inoperative as shown in the drawings. Inasmuch as operations of relays R1 and R5 are identical, although they do not necessarily occur simultaneous- 1y, it is thought that it will be sufficient to describe the action which takes place when relay R1 is both energized and deenergized. It will be noted that when relay R1 energizes due to current flowing in conductors L1L2, that the circuit to relay 7 is m0- mentarily closed by the action of spring 1 and its make-before-break contact arrangement and that when spring 1 comes to rest,

the circuit to relay 7 is opened at the break contact, and since the make contact is dead after spring 1 comes to rest, the only efiectiveness of spring 1 is the sending of an impulse to relay 7. a

It will also be noted that the circuit to relay 7 is momentarily closed when relay R1 deenergizes by the reverse action of spring 1 and its contact arrangement. Both of these impulses may be traced from ground, through spring 1 and its make-before-break contacts, conductor 5, winding of relay 7, resistance 9, to grounded battery. Relay 7 isenergized in this circuit and locks itself energizedfrom groundthrough spring 11 and its make contact. Relay 7 also closes the following circuit at spring 13: ground, spring 13 and its front contact, common conductor 15, wiper bank 22, wiper 26, spring 18 and its back contact, conductor 19, winding of relay 20, to grounded battery. The common start conductor 15 is connected to the home position of wiper 26 on bank 22, and to this conductor are connected the front contacts of springs similar to spring 13 of relay 7. Relay 20 operates in this circuit and at springs 37, 38 and 39 closes the obvious circuits to motor magnet 21, printer motor magnet 31, and slow to release relay 34, respectively. Relays 21, 31 and 34 all energize simultaneously in their respective circuits. Relay 31 in energizing steps the indicating wheel of printing recorder PR one complete step by the action of its armature. Relay 34 in operating opens at 40, the circuit to printer shift-magnet 33 and at 41, the circuit to relay 35. 21 in operating opens the circuit to relay 20 at spring 18. Relay 2O deenergizes and opens the circuits to relays 21, 31 and 34. In deenergizing, relay 21 steps the wipers 26, 27, 28 and 29 out of their home position to the next contact of their respective banks and again closes the circuit to relay 20 at spring 18. In the meantime, relay 31 has also deenergized, but as relay 34 is a slow to release relay it will hold up momentarily. Should wiper 26 encountera ground potential in its new position, the relay 20 would again energize and the same cycle of operations would be performed with the exception that relay 34 would remain energized throughout because of its slow to release feature. Thus it will be seen that relay 31 is operated in synchronism with relay 21 for a purpose which will be explained later.

- Inasmuchas relay 7 is operated, spring 13 will be in its operated position and ground will be absent from the conductor 16. Therefore, when wiper 26 is stepped from its home. position to the next contact, it will not encounter ground and relay 20 will not operate to close the circuit to motor magnet 21 to step the wipers to the next position. After a short period relay 34 will release.

In operating, relay R1 at spring 2, places ground on conductor 46, and this ground will be present on conductor 52 after wiper 28 has been stepped to the second position on bank 24. Now, when relay 34 releases, a circuit is closed to printer shift-magnet 33 from ground, through spring 2 and its make contact, conductor 46, second contact of bank 24, wiper 28, conductor 52, spring 40 and its back contact, conductor 49, through winding of relay33, to grounded battery. Relay 33 energizes and attracts its armature 36. Armature 36 is so arranged that a raised marking X on the armature will be in alignment with the markings on the indicating disc controlled by magnet 31 and other markings on other indicating discs of the recorder PR. Relay 34 upon deenergizing also closes at 41 a circuit to relay 35, which because of the copper slug on the armature end of itsco're does not energize as quickly as relay 33. The circuit of relay 35 can be traced from ground through multiplied contacts of bank 25, wiper 29, conductor 53, spring 41 and its back contact, through the winding of relay 35, to grounded battery. At 42, relay 35 closes a circuit through the printer magnet 32 which then operates and stamps a record of the indications of the various indicating discs of the printing recorder PR. The operating circuit for relay 32 can be traced from ground, through .multiplied contacts of bank 25, wiper 29, conductor 53, spring 42 and its front contact, conductor 50, through winding of relay 32, to grounded battery. Relay 35 upon energizing also closes at 43 a circuit from ground through spring 43 and its front contact, conductor 51, wiper 27, second position contact of bank 23, conductor 44, through resistance 9, to grounded battery. This circuit places a shunt about relay'7 which will then fall back.- In falling back, relay 7 removes ground potential from the start conductor 15 and places it on conductor 16 at spring 13. The presence of ground potential on conductor 16 will have the same effect on start magnet 20 as the presence of ground potential on conductor 15 had on this relay when wiper 26 was in its home position, since wiper 26 now rests upon the contact of bank 22 to which conductor 16 is connected. Since the. circuit of relay 20 is now closed from ground through spring 13 and its back contact, conductor 16, second position contact of bank 22, wiper 26, spring 18 and its bank contact, conductor 19, through winding of relay 20 to grounded battery, this relay will energize and close the circuits to relays 21, 31 and 34 as previ ously described. Relay 21 will in turn step the wipers26, 27. 28 and 29 around to their next position and thence on to their home position provided that no other relay similar to R1 has changed its position in the meantime.

Assume, however, that some other relay, R5 for instance, has changed position either at the same time as R1 or shortly after.

The changing of position of R5 will act upon relay 8 in the same manner as the changing of R1 acted upon relay 7, and ground will be removed from conductor 17 which is attached to the sixth contact of bank 22, the first contact being the home position. After arecord has been made of the operation of R1, the magnets 20 and 21 will act to step the wipers around towards their home position as has just been described. Butwhen wiper 26 has been stepped to the sixth contact of bank 22 to which conductor 17 is attached, it will find no ground potential there, so the relay 20 will no't-energize again. Thereupon, the same cycle of operations will be again performed to make a record of the operation of R5 as was performed to make a record of the operation of R1. After the record has been stamped, relay 8 will deenergize because of the shunt placed about it by relay 35, and the rotary switch will again be started on its way towards its home position.

When relay R1 deenergizes due to a failure in current flow or a reduction thereof, the operation previously described is the same except that this time spring 2 will fall back removing ground from conductor 46. In this case, after relay 34 has'deenergized and closed the circuit to the printer shift-magnet 33, this magnet will not be energized because of the absence of ground potential on the second contact of bank 24 to which conductor 46 is attached. fore when a record is stamped, the marking X will not be included in the record. Thus it will be seen that the marking X appears whenever a relay changes from its inoperative position to its operative position. and that this marking is absent when the reverse operation takes place.

As previously explained, relay 31 steps in synchronism with relay 21. The purpose of this arrangement will now be explained. The periphery ofthe indicating disc, rotated by the action of relay 31, is marked with raised numerals from 1 on up according to the number of contacts to which wiper 26 has access.

There- The disc is so arranged that 7 when wiper 26 is stepped one position from its home position, the indicating disc will be so positioned that the number 1 on its periphery will be in the stamping position. lVhen wiper 26-is stepped to the fifth position from its home position, the disc will be stepping at the same time to place the numeral 5 in position for stamping. Thus it will be seen that the numeral in the stamping position will indicate the number of steps wipers 26, 27, 28 and 29 have been advanced. Since one step of these wipers associates them with the first relay (R1) and two steps associate the wiper with second relay (R2, not shown) and so on, it can be said that the numeral of the indicating disc appearing in the stamping position will indicate the number of the relay whichhas changed its position.

Briefly summarizing the foregoing description, it may be said that whenever one of a certain group of power line relays represented byRl and R5, changes its position, a relay similar to relay 7 and individ ual to the power line relay, such as R1, with which it is associated, receives a momentary impulse sufficient to operate it, as a result of the change in position. This relay causes the common start relay to be actuated which in turn causes the motor magnet 21 of the rotary switch and the motor magnet 31 of the printer to operate in synchronism to seek and indicate the power line relay which has changed its position. When the power line relay has been found, the printer shift-magnet 33 is operated through the deenergization of start relay 20 and subsequent deenergization of relay 34. Immediately following the energization of magnet 33, the relay 35 is energized. This relay causes the printer magnet 32 to operate and print the record of the printing recorder PR. Relay 35 at the same time places a shunt about the individual relay of the power line relay which operated, allowing the individual relay to release and start the rotary switch stepping towards its home position. While returning to its home position, should the rotary switch encounter another-power line relay which is connected to bank contacts of the rotary switch bank below those of the first operated power line relay, and which has operated either simultaneously with or after the operation of the first power line relay, the rotary switch will stop at this position and make a-record of the operation of that power line relay and again proceed on its way to the home position Also, should a power line relay, located between the home position of the rotary switch on the banks and the position of the first operated power line relay on the banks. operate after the first power line relay has operated, the rotary switch upon its return to its home position will find a ground potential at this position and will immediately start out to find that other operated power line relay.

While I have chosen to show my invention in connection with a particular type of apparatus, it will be understood that l have done so merely by way of example, and as there are modifications and adaptations which can be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention, I do not intend to be limited to the present disclosure.

Having thus described my invention, what I consider new and desire to have protected by Letters Patent is pointed out in the ap pended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a supervisory system, a plurality of devices having diiierent positions, a recorder having device and position indicating means, a selecting mechanism for the recording device, means responsive to a change in position of any one of said devices to operate the selecting mechanism to find the device, to set said device indicating means in accordance with the finding and connect that device to the recorder, and means responsive to the connection for controlling said position indicating means and operating the recorder to record the device changed, and the position to which the device moved.

2. In a supervisory system, a plurality of devices having different positions, a common printing recorder having device indicating means, a selecting mechanism for the printing recorder, means responsive to a change in position of any one of said devices for operating the selecting mechanism in a stepby-step manner to find the device and connect it to the recorder and for stepping the device indicating means operated responsive to that connection for causing synchronism with the selecting mechanism, and means operating automatically upon the completion of that connection for operating the recorder to print a record of the device changed.

3. In a supervisory system, a plurality of switching devices having difieren't positions, a recorder having device number indicating means, a selecting mechanism having a home position and associated with said recorder, means responsive to a change in position of any of said switchingdevices to move said selecting mechanism from its home position to find the device which has changed its position and to connect 'that device to the recorder and to simultaneously set said number indicating means to indicate the device which has changed its position, means operating automatically upon the completion of said connection for operating said recorder to record the number of the device which has changed its position, and means for automatically operating said selecting mechanism to return it to its home position after 'said record has been made.

4. In a supervisory system, employing a printing recorder, power lines having current normally flowing therein, a switching device for each of the lines and adapted to change its position in response to a failure of the current flow or a renewal thereof, a selective switch common to all of said devices, means operated. responsive to a change in position of one of the devices for causing the switch to find that device and to connect it to the recorder, and means for causing the recorder to print a record of the change in position. i

5. In a supervisory system, power lines having current normally flowing therein, a switching device for each of the lines and adapted to change its position responsive to a cessation of the current flow or a renewal thereof, a printing recorder, a selective switch common to all of the devices and operated responsive to a change in position of one of the devices for connecting that device to the recorder, and means responsive to said connection for causing the recorder to print a record of the change in position.

6. In a supervisory system, a plurality of circuits having current normally flowing therein, an electro responsive device associated with each of said circuits and normally energized by the current flowing in the as sociated circuit, said device deenergizing upon a failure in the current flow and reenergizing responsive to a restoration of the current flow, a printing recorder, and a selecting mechanism for selecting said devices and connecting said recorder thereto to record the condition of said circuits.

7. In a supervisory system, a plurality of circuits having current normally flowing therein, a device for each circuit operated while current is flowing in its associated circuit, a recorder, a circuit number indicator and-an on-or-ofl indicator in the recorder, a switching mechanism, means for operating said mechanism to successively connect the recorder to the devices and for operating the number indicator to always indicate the number of the device and circuit to which the recorder is connected, means associated with each device for operating the on-or-ofl' indicator in accordance with the operated or non-operated condition of the device, and means for operating the recorder to record the number of the circuit and whether or not current is flowing in the circuit.

8. In a supervisory system, a plurality of switching devices having different positions, a test circuit for each switching device open in one position of the device and closed in another position of the device, a recorder having device and pos1t1on lndicat-lng means, a selecting mechan1sm associated .lays for operating said selecting mechanism to find that relay and to connect it to said recorder and to set said device indicating means in accordance with that finding, means automatically operating upon the finding of said operated relay for connecting the test circuit of the associated device to said recorder to control said position indieating means in accordance with the open or closed condition of said test circuit, and means for thereafter operating said recorder to make a record of the device changing position and the position to which it changed.

9. In a supervisory system, a plurality of switching devices having different positions, a test circuit for each device, open in one position of the device and closed in another position of the device, a recorder having device number and position indicating means, a selecting mechanism associated with said recorder, a relay associated with each device and operated thereby each time the device changes position, means responsive to the operation of one of said relays for operating said selecting mechanism and said device number indicating means in synchronism, operating said selecting means to find the operated relay and connect it to said recorder, and operating said number indicating means to indicate the number of thevdevice associated with the operated relay, means operating automatically upon the finding of the operated relay for connecting the test circuit of associated device to said position indicating means to control that means in accordance with the open or closed condition of the test circuit, and means for thereafter operating said recorder to record the number of the device which changed its position and the position to which it changed.

10. In a supervisory system, a plurality of switching devices having different positions, a test circuit for each of said devices open in one position of the associated device and closed in another, a relay associated with each switching device, an operating circuit for each relay momentarily closed by the associated device each time that device ing said number indicating means to indicate the number of the operated relay and the device which changed its position, means operating automatically upon the connection of said operated relay for connecting the test circuit of the associated device to said position indicating means to control that means in accordance with the open or closed condition of the test circuit, and means for operating said recorder to record the number of the device which changed position and the position to which it changed and for restoring said operated relay, said first mentioned means responsive to the restoration of said operated relay for returning said selecting mechanism to its home position.

In witness whereof, hereunto subscribe my name this 16th day of August, A. D.

HARRY 1E. HERSHEY.

remiss 

